Phoenix Suns have wild road ahead in NBA playoff race

by Bob Young - Mar. 11, 2010 05:25 PMThe Arizona Republic

How wild is the NBA's Western Conference playoff race going to get?

Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry told his players as they finished preparations for Friday's game against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers that during their five-day break the Suns slipped from fifth to sixth in the West.

"So, we've got to play really well starting with the Lakers. We have 17 games left and we have to win a bunch of them."

The Suns were banged up when this unusual gap in the schedule arrived, so in that way it was helpful. But they also had won eight of their past 10, and losing momentum at this point of the season could be a disaster in the ultra-competitive West.

"For me, these 17 games are playoff-like games," Nash said. "I think (Friday is) a big game for us, and hopefully we can overcome the five days off and get off to a good start."

It also has become a big game for the Lakers. They have lost five of their past 10 while the Dallas Mavericks have won 13 in a row. LA's once-comfortable lead in the West now is just 2.5 games.

"It's a situation where there are 17 games left and nothing has been decided, not even first place," Gentry said. "Now that Dallas is playing the way they are, conceivably, I think, they feel like they can catch the Lakers."

Championship mettle

Not that one lull has Gentry counting out the Lakers as a championship team, as some in the media have begun to do.

"They're a championship team," he said. "Everybody stumbles a little bit. We should all be so lucky that everybody thinks their season is over when they lose three in a row, and they lost to pretty good teams. As long as they have Kobe, they're going to be right there.

"You look at who they run out there; they're a long team, they're very good defensively. Obviously they're good offensively with Kobe and those guys on the floor. Ron Artest gives them a guy who can guard anybody.

"So I still think before anything is decided it's going to go right through LA. And that's the conference finals and the NBA Finals."

Of course, the Suns and others in the Western Conference playoff pack don't have the luxury of simply focusing on the teams ahead of them.

"We'll see how it all goes, but there are teams out of the playoffs right now thinking they have a chance to climb back in," Gentry said. "The way Memphis is playing, and New Orleans is right there. . . . There are so many teams you've got to hold off.

"I guess the great thing there is that most of those teams end up playing each other. So it will be decided by the teams.

"No, I'm going to wait," he said. "I don't know how many games. I'm not strong yet with the (right) hand. It's still a little bit weak. I can't pass the way I want to pass. Hopefully I'll be back soon. I'm excited and wanted to play, but I want to make sure I get back right."

Barbosa said he will take it "game by game" to determine when that is.

"The flexibility is good, but it's just when I dribble the ball the arm is a little bit weak," Barbosa said. "I haven't done many things with the upper body so I think that's the reason.

"It still feels good. A little stiff. I've been shooting every day, so I think it's normal."